It was the face that launched a thousand plastic straw bans. The video begins with a close up of the turtle’s head, its dark green, pebbled skin out of place against the stark-white boat deck.

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Half a billion straws are used in the United States every day, according to a popular — but perhaps not the most scientific — estimate. The biggest buyer: the federal government, which buys more ...

A decade ago, a video of a sea turtle with a plastic straw stuck in its nostril went viral, spurring a wave of activism aimed at curtailing plastic pollution. The disposable plastic straw became the ...

Why the humble straw “issue” has so incensed the present administration and triggered an executive order more or less banning paper straws from federal buildings, in favor of plastic ones, is ...

The global issue of plastic pollution has led to a search for sustainable alternatives to disposable plastic products. One of the most problematic items is the plastic straw, which is lightweight, non ...

This story is part of the Grist arts and culture series Remember When, a weeklong exploration of what happened to the climate solutions that once clogged our social feeds. This story was co-published ...